Bibliomaniac: An Obsessive's Tour of the Bookshops of Britain
by Robin Ince
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Description
Why play to 12,000 people when you can play to 12? In Autumn 2021, Robin Ince's stadium tour with Professor Brian Cox was postponed due to the pandemic. Rather than do nothing, he decided he would instead go on a tour of over a hundred bookshops, from Wigtown to Penzance; from Swansea to Margate. Packed with anecdotes and tall tales, Bibliomaniac follows Robin up and down the country in his quest to discover just why he can never have enough books. It is the story of an addiction and a show more romance, and also of an occasional points failure just outside Oxenholme. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
I chose Bibliomaniac with some trepidation, having yet to find a book about books that doesn’t revere long dead white men and assorted tedious classics, so I was pleased to discover Ince’s taste tends to be rather more eclectic, if not eccentric.
“I pick up a book by Houdini about psychic mediums; something about the quest for the Holy Grail; a Jungian guide to grotesques in literature; and Yukio Mishima’s The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea”
Bibliomaniac is not a reading guide though, it’s a travelogue of sorts that tells of Robin Ince’s post-CoVid lockdown adventure as he travels the length and breadth of Britain to speak at 111 independent bookstores in 100 days to promote his book, The Importance of Being show more Interested: Adventures in Scientific Curiosity.
Each chapter, prefaced with a sketched map that roughly shows a particular leg of his journey, is essentially a collection of anecdotes and observations told with thoughtfulness, humour, and enthusiasm. Ince writes of his travel experience (he relies mostly on public transport), his impression of the stores he visits, their owners and their patrons, and of course, the books he finds and adds to his collection. Ince also muses on his relationship to books and reading, and occasionally wanders off on idiosyncratic tangents.
“I think I love books more than I love reading. Their company means there is always the possibility of something to be discovered, waiting for me between the covers, which hasn't even entered my imagination yet. A small but pleasing change in my reality is waiting on every shelf.”
A book for booklovers by a booklover, Bibliomaniac is an entertaining read. show less
“I pick up a book by Houdini about psychic mediums; something about the quest for the Holy Grail; a Jungian guide to grotesques in literature; and Yukio Mishima’s The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea”
Bibliomaniac is not a reading guide though, it’s a travelogue of sorts that tells of Robin Ince’s post-CoVid lockdown adventure as he travels the length and breadth of Britain to speak at 111 independent bookstores in 100 days to promote his book, The Importance of Being show more Interested: Adventures in Scientific Curiosity.
Each chapter, prefaced with a sketched map that roughly shows a particular leg of his journey, is essentially a collection of anecdotes and observations told with thoughtfulness, humour, and enthusiasm. Ince writes of his travel experience (he relies mostly on public transport), his impression of the stores he visits, their owners and their patrons, and of course, the books he finds and adds to his collection. Ince also muses on his relationship to books and reading, and occasionally wanders off on idiosyncratic tangents.
“I think I love books more than I love reading. Their company means there is always the possibility of something to be discovered, waiting for me between the covers, which hasn't even entered my imagination yet. A small but pleasing change in my reality is waiting on every shelf.”
A book for booklovers by a booklover, Bibliomaniac is an entertaining read. show less
I picked up [b:Bibliomaniac|61293621|Bibliomaniac|Robin Ince|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1655297576l/61293621._SY75_.jpg|96648007] off the library's new acquisitions shelf as I do enjoy a book-about-books. Ince writes candidly and very amusingly about his addiction to buying books and his 2021 tour of Britain's independent bookshops. His frequent jumps from anecdote to anecdote are somewhat explained by a mention in the introduction that he likely has ADHD. This style suits the topic, as it travels from bookshop to bookshop, as well as book to book. His frenetic tour via unreliable public transport and helpful lifts is just the sort of thing I enjoy reading about but would absolutely hate doing show more myself. I've only been to a couple of the bookshops on the tour, despite being fond of independent bookshops. In the introduction, Ince perceptively explains his obsession:
A lot of this is very familiar to me from my own experience. Books are my drugs too; I've always used reading to calm my mind and escape myself. I too read about hallucinogens with great interest but am far too anxious to take them. It seems to me that no-one would choose to read constantly if they liked the sound of their own thoughts! Yet, unlike Ince, I definitely love reading more than books. He accumulates books constantly, whereas I own fewer books than my friends and family. The majority of the books I read are borrowed from libraries or friends. My preference is to read a book, review it, then pass it on so someone else can enjoy it. The 110 books on my shelves are roughly half unread and half favourites worthy of re-reading. Much as I adore books, in excess they become clutter which I detest.
Anyway, Ince's love of books and joy in talking about them comes through strongly in [b:Bibliomaniac|61293621|Bibliomaniac|Robin Ince|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1655297576l/61293621._SY75_.jpg|96648007]. He is a compelling and very funny writer, both about travel and books. I laughed out loud at anecdotes like this:
[b:Bibliomaniac|61293621|Bibliomaniac|Robin Ince|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1655297576l/61293621._SY75_.jpg|96648007] gives the reader a joyful tour of Britain's independent bookshops, which seem to be weathering the pandemic quite well, as well as a tour of his book collection. Ince's interests are delightfully miscellaneous and his enthusiasm infectious. Anyone who loves books and/or reading will enjoy Ince's adventures and discover new bookshops to visit. show less
I think I love books more than I love reading. Their company means there is always the possibility of something to be discovered, waiting for me between the covers, which hasn't even entered my imagination yet. A small but pleasing change in my reality is waiting on every shelf.
I know that I have a tendency towards melancholy, social anxiety, and self-loathing, and books form a great part of my prescription medication. When I say that books are my drugs, I don't mean that in a throwaway manner; they really do calm me, they really do shut off some of the voices for a while.
They really do take me out of time.
Books are not merely my escape, but an opportunity to explore the world - my chance to get the voices from the page to drown the voices in my head; the place to live in other people's dreamscapes. I am too anxious for some of the hallucinogens that my confident friends experiment with, so my trips are fuelled by turning pages.
A lot of this is very familiar to me from my own experience. Books are my drugs too; I've always used reading to calm my mind and escape myself. I too read about hallucinogens with great interest but am far too anxious to take them. It seems to me that no-one would choose to read constantly if they liked the sound of their own thoughts! Yet, unlike Ince, I definitely love reading more than books. He accumulates books constantly, whereas I own fewer books than my friends and family. The majority of the books I read are borrowed from libraries or friends. My preference is to read a book, review it, then pass it on so someone else can enjoy it. The 110 books on my shelves are roughly half unread and half favourites worthy of re-reading. Much as I adore books, in excess they become clutter which I detest.
Anyway, Ince's love of books and joy in talking about them comes through strongly in [b:Bibliomaniac|61293621|Bibliomaniac|Robin Ince|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1655297576l/61293621._SY75_.jpg|96648007]. He is a compelling and very funny writer, both about travel and books. I laughed out loud at anecdotes like this:
My favourite librarian story comes from Stoke Newington. A ninety-two-year-old book-lover whose eyesight meant she relied on talking books decided she should hear Fifty Shades of Grey. The librarian warned her it was a bit racy, but she was having none of it. Two weeks later, she rang the librarian: "Disc four is filthy." "I did warn you." "No, it's filthy, it looks like it's got jam or marmalade on it. It won't play at all."
[b:Bibliomaniac|61293621|Bibliomaniac|Robin Ince|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1655297576l/61293621._SY75_.jpg|96648007] gives the reader a joyful tour of Britain's independent bookshops, which seem to be weathering the pandemic quite well, as well as a tour of his book collection. Ince's interests are delightfully miscellaneous and his enthusiasm infectious. Anyone who loves books and/or reading will enjoy Ince's adventures and discover new bookshops to visit. show less
Here's what I know for sure after reading this book. Robin Ince is extremely well read. Robin Ince knows a LOT about books. Robin Ince buys an extraordinary amount of books. Robin Ince is a bibliomaniac.
In his aptly titled book Bibliomaniac - An Obsessive's Tour of the Bookshops of Britain, author Robin Ince sets out to visit more than 100 bookshops in 100 days. The year was 2021 and bookshops were welcoming authors back for events. Reading this travelogue of sorts about his experiences along the way was interesting.
My introduction to Robin Ince came courtesy of attending the Professor Brian Cox Universal World Tour in June 2019 and a few years later, the Professor Brian Cox Horizons - A 21st Century Space Odyssey in October 2022. Robin show more Ince was the award-winning comedian and warm-up act for Cox and finding out he was an obsessive book lover piqued my interest.
Ince declares early on that books define him, books are the reason he stopped drinking heavily and that he sleeps with books piled on the bed and I'll admit I began to worry a little. In the Introduction he lays his bibliomania bare:
"At one stage my house became so swamped with books that I donated more than 1,000 of them to Leicester Prison and got rid of a further 5,000 more to charities. And yet I know that my house is still overrun, always on the cusp of being justifiable grounds for divorce." Page 4
This was another dual audio and print reading experience, and the occasional mention of an interesting sounding book or anecdote motivated me to put this down and head off to find out more. Here's one in reference to Charles Darwin in Chapter 6:
"There are no new tattoos to see after the show tonight, but I have a happy conversation with a shy young person who has recently become inspired to study horticulture. This leads to yet another conversation about Charles Darwin, this time about his earthworm experiments - any excuse to bring up the bassoon." Page 160
There were many in jokes along the way like this one about the bassoon* but I didn't understand many of them because I lacked the broad depth of knowledge on a variety of subjects required to chuckle along and marvel at the author's treasure trove of interesting and engaging facts.
Ince readily confesses that he doesn't read books end to end or sequentially, and instead he dips in and out of them in a fashion that started to stress me out. I have a completely different approach to reading and acquiring books, and despite our shared love of books and reading, I couldn't relate to his reading style:
"I am sometimes asked how I read so much. I commit the cardinal sin among some bookish people: I leave books unfinished. I hop in and out of them, grabbing an anecdote, an idea or a philosophy and then putting them on the teetering 'to be continued' pile." Page 4
I don't mind leaving a book unfinished, but I don't understand how a reader can grab an anecdote or philosophy in any detail with this approach and Ince readily confesses that in his desire to know everything, he ends up knowing nothing. Here's a taste of his reading style, can you relate?
"I have half a bottle of red, a packet of pistachio cookies and solitude. I spread out my books and read five random pages from each one. Short of focus, I decide not to focus and read erratically, bouncing in and out of books until, exhausted by other people's ideas, I fall asleep with a book across my face." Page 266
While that might sound like absolute heaven to some book lovers, it sounds haphazard and chaotic to me and I found it hard to relate to his specific type of bibliomania.
Some of the conversations Ince has with customers, event attendees and booksellers sound truly fascinating and I bet meeting him in person would be a stimulating experience. I love hearing how he curates a different pile of books in each bookshop and uses them to inform the topic of his speech. This is a terrific way to ensure his presentations are always unique and never become stale, they also enable a last minute, ad hoc approach to the event that made the organiser in me feel uneasy.
Often rushing for the train or running overtime during his events - albeit with permission, but honestly, who's going to say no? - Ince relies on lifts from friends, booksellers and agents to get him to and from train stations and the more than 100 bookshops visited; often staying the night wherever he can.
The author is the kind of guy who buys his own books (Page 194) and in one chapter, he recalls taking a half full bottle of wine from his event to drink on the train trip home (Page 203) while reading a new acquisition. Barely mentioning his wife or family, Ince does tell us his wife doesn't want him bringing books back from the book tour, so he sneaks home at one point to offload a tonne of books and then stealthily leaves again. What a guy!
Despite considering myself somewhat well read and reasonably knowledgable about books, I could probably count on one hand the number of books I'd actually heard of or read myself from the hundreds mentioned throughout the 300+ pages. While I focus on non fiction and relatively recent fiction, the author's interests seem to orbit around non fiction (so many memoirs) and horror novels.
Aspects of my reaction to Bibliomaniac reminded me of my experience reading Back Story by David Mitchell, in so far as I think I'd have been better off admiring the work of both authors and comedians from afar, rather than delving deeper and reading their memoir.
Bibliomaniac by Robin Ince wasn't the TBR expanding experience I hoped it would be. I didn't add a single book mentioned to my TBR although I did do some serious Googling. I never found myself looking forward to the next chapter, wondering, "oooh, I wonder what he’ll find in Leeds" or "I wonder what obscure title he'll discover in the 37th Oxfam charity shop of the tour."
I've concluded Bibliomaniac by Robin Ince has a somewhat limited reading appeal, so readers familiar with the bookshops on the tour and who are extraordinarily well read, love collecting rare and valuable books, enjoy horror and find almost any topic fascinating will love this. I find many topics interesting too, but I don't buy books with a plan to never read more than a few pages.
* Apparently Darwin tested the hearing of earthworms by having his son play his bassoon really loudly to prove they don't have ears or a sense of hearing. show less
In his aptly titled book Bibliomaniac - An Obsessive's Tour of the Bookshops of Britain, author Robin Ince sets out to visit more than 100 bookshops in 100 days. The year was 2021 and bookshops were welcoming authors back for events. Reading this travelogue of sorts about his experiences along the way was interesting.
My introduction to Robin Ince came courtesy of attending the Professor Brian Cox Universal World Tour in June 2019 and a few years later, the Professor Brian Cox Horizons - A 21st Century Space Odyssey in October 2022. Robin show more Ince was the award-winning comedian and warm-up act for Cox and finding out he was an obsessive book lover piqued my interest.
Ince declares early on that books define him, books are the reason he stopped drinking heavily and that he sleeps with books piled on the bed and I'll admit I began to worry a little. In the Introduction he lays his bibliomania bare:
"At one stage my house became so swamped with books that I donated more than 1,000 of them to Leicester Prison and got rid of a further 5,000 more to charities. And yet I know that my house is still overrun, always on the cusp of being justifiable grounds for divorce." Page 4
This was another dual audio and print reading experience, and the occasional mention of an interesting sounding book or anecdote motivated me to put this down and head off to find out more. Here's one in reference to Charles Darwin in Chapter 6:
"There are no new tattoos to see after the show tonight, but I have a happy conversation with a shy young person who has recently become inspired to study horticulture. This leads to yet another conversation about Charles Darwin, this time about his earthworm experiments - any excuse to bring up the bassoon." Page 160
There were many in jokes along the way like this one about the bassoon* but I didn't understand many of them because I lacked the broad depth of knowledge on a variety of subjects required to chuckle along and marvel at the author's treasure trove of interesting and engaging facts.
Ince readily confesses that he doesn't read books end to end or sequentially, and instead he dips in and out of them in a fashion that started to stress me out. I have a completely different approach to reading and acquiring books, and despite our shared love of books and reading, I couldn't relate to his reading style:
"I am sometimes asked how I read so much. I commit the cardinal sin among some bookish people: I leave books unfinished. I hop in and out of them, grabbing an anecdote, an idea or a philosophy and then putting them on the teetering 'to be continued' pile." Page 4
I don't mind leaving a book unfinished, but I don't understand how a reader can grab an anecdote or philosophy in any detail with this approach and Ince readily confesses that in his desire to know everything, he ends up knowing nothing. Here's a taste of his reading style, can you relate?
"I have half a bottle of red, a packet of pistachio cookies and solitude. I spread out my books and read five random pages from each one. Short of focus, I decide not to focus and read erratically, bouncing in and out of books until, exhausted by other people's ideas, I fall asleep with a book across my face." Page 266
While that might sound like absolute heaven to some book lovers, it sounds haphazard and chaotic to me and I found it hard to relate to his specific type of bibliomania.
Some of the conversations Ince has with customers, event attendees and booksellers sound truly fascinating and I bet meeting him in person would be a stimulating experience. I love hearing how he curates a different pile of books in each bookshop and uses them to inform the topic of his speech. This is a terrific way to ensure his presentations are always unique and never become stale, they also enable a last minute, ad hoc approach to the event that made the organiser in me feel uneasy.
Often rushing for the train or running overtime during his events - albeit with permission, but honestly, who's going to say no? - Ince relies on lifts from friends, booksellers and agents to get him to and from train stations and the more than 100 bookshops visited; often staying the night wherever he can.
The author is the kind of guy who buys his own books (Page 194) and in one chapter, he recalls taking a half full bottle of wine from his event to drink on the train trip home (Page 203) while reading a new acquisition. Barely mentioning his wife or family, Ince does tell us his wife doesn't want him bringing books back from the book tour, so he sneaks home at one point to offload a tonne of books and then stealthily leaves again. What a guy!
Despite considering myself somewhat well read and reasonably knowledgable about books, I could probably count on one hand the number of books I'd actually heard of or read myself from the hundreds mentioned throughout the 300+ pages. While I focus on non fiction and relatively recent fiction, the author's interests seem to orbit around non fiction (so many memoirs) and horror novels.
Aspects of my reaction to Bibliomaniac reminded me of my experience reading Back Story by David Mitchell, in so far as I think I'd have been better off admiring the work of both authors and comedians from afar, rather than delving deeper and reading their memoir.
Bibliomaniac by Robin Ince wasn't the TBR expanding experience I hoped it would be. I didn't add a single book mentioned to my TBR although I did do some serious Googling. I never found myself looking forward to the next chapter, wondering, "oooh, I wonder what he’ll find in Leeds" or "I wonder what obscure title he'll discover in the 37th Oxfam charity shop of the tour."
I've concluded Bibliomaniac by Robin Ince has a somewhat limited reading appeal, so readers familiar with the bookshops on the tour and who are extraordinarily well read, love collecting rare and valuable books, enjoy horror and find almost any topic fascinating will love this. I find many topics interesting too, but I don't buy books with a plan to never read more than a few pages.
* Apparently Darwin tested the hearing of earthworms by having his son play his bassoon really loudly to prove they don't have ears or a sense of hearing. show less
I liked it, but it wasn't as wonderful as I'd hoped, possibly because the author's taste in books to look for while book-hunting isn't the same as mine. It was, though, fun to hear about some of the oddball books he picked up.
I liked this passage because it describes one aspect of we who prefer to read: The comedian Arthur Smith once summed up the perfect amount to earn as being enough to buy the books you wanted, have a drink in the pub and still be able to afford a taxi home.
I liked this fun passage because it reflects what I find best about bookshops, which is stumbling across books you didn't know you needed and maybe never knew existed but have to have: There is an Oxfam shop directly on my way from the station to Brendon Books. I show more need a book of photographs of London in the 1980s with a picture of Francis Bacon on the Tube, and I need one on psychoanalysis and art - and as luck would have it, the shop had both. show less
I liked this passage because it describes one aspect of we who prefer to read: The comedian Arthur Smith once summed up the perfect amount to earn as being enough to buy the books you wanted, have a drink in the pub and still be able to afford a taxi home.
I liked this fun passage because it reflects what I find best about bookshops, which is stumbling across books you didn't know you needed and maybe never knew existed but have to have: There is an Oxfam shop directly on my way from the station to Brendon Books. I show more need a book of photographs of London in the 1980s with a picture of Francis Bacon on the Tube, and I need one on psychoanalysis and art - and as luck would have it, the shop had both. show less
So maybe my book problem isn't that bad. Compared to Ince's of course.
It feels bit disjointed sometimes, but fun overall, plus he gets into so many books.
It feels bit disjointed sometimes, but fun overall, plus he gets into so many books.
There is a lot that I like about this book, but also a fair amount of disappointment. The treatment of the actual bookshops is often pretty superficial. The book is mostly a stream of consciousness, random account of Ince's incidents of travel and book purchasing (often at bargain hunting in charity shops rather than the titular bookshops). There is a lot about books, but again much of it superficial, as Ince pulls in a wide and random range of authors and titles. A small and random selection: The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear, Being and Time, Bollocks to Alton Towers, The Cat Who Saved Books, The Ghost Stories of M.R. James, Hangover Square, The Lord of the Rings, On Having No Head, Picturesque Finland, The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten, show more The Sirens of Titan. I found some books that I want to read, some that I want to avoid. Parts are a lot of fun, parts are pretty tedious. Perhaps I should have started off: "It was the best of books, it was the worst of books." I really wanted to like this more. 3½ stars. show less
The only problem with this book is that it has increased my TBR list by approx 30 books. This was a superb gift
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Bibliomaniac: An Obsessive's Tour of the Bookshops of Britain
- Important places
- Wigtown, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, UK; Laugharne, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK; Chorleywood, England. UK; Tring, Hertfordshire, England, UK; St Helens, Lancashire, England; Ilkley, West Yorkshire, England, UK (show all 29); Bristol, England, UK; Manchester, England, UK; Glasgow, Scotland, UK; Stewarton, Scotland, UK; Carlisle, Cumbria, England, UK; Settle, North Yorkshire, England, UK; Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, England; Bristol, England, UK; Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, UK; Swansea, Wales, UK; Cardiff, Wales, UK; Crickhowell, Wales, UK; Penarth, Ceredigion, Wales, UK; Birmingham, England, UK; Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK; Harrogate, Yorkshire, England, UK; Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, England, UK; Wivenhoe, Essex, England, UK; Norwich, Norfolk, England, UK; Okehampton, Devon, England, UK; Penzance, Cornwall, England, UK; Redruth, Cornwall, England, UK; Plymouth, Devon, England, UK
- Dedication
- Dedicated to all the bibliomaniacs, all of those who are never happier than when in a library or a bookshop and especially to my friend Katherine, formerly KP, who has always been the most kind and curious person and has led ... (show all)me to many wonderful books.
And always to Nicki.
And always to Archie. - First words
- Let's start with a battle cry, but quietly, just in case you are in the library.
- Quotations
- It is the dream we have always had: being looked in a well-organized bookshop with the promise of eminent chips.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Did you ask me to help you choose something from the Paddington Bear section?
- Original language
- English
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- Nonfiction, Travel, General Nonfiction, Biography & Memoir
- DDC/MDS
- 381.450020941 — Social sciences Commerce, communications & transportation Commerce (Trade) Specific products and services Books
- LCC
- Z278 .I534 — Bibliography, Library Science and Information Resources Book industries and trade Bookselling and publishing
- BISAC
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- 184
- Popularity
- 177,005
- Reviews
- 7
- Rating
- (3.83)
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- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
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